Publications summarized in this annotated bibliography address critical issues on the restructuring of school governance and organization, curriculum reform, and the professionalization of teachers. Included are articles on specific schools and school districts that have made significant progress in their efforts to improve student achievement…

What happens when the parents and teachers of a neighborhood school are given the opportunity to govern that school - to make decisions about policy, about staff, about educational philosophy? This article is an exciting account of what it really means to trust local individuals to do a responsible job. (Editor)

The program description and the newspaper advertisement presented describe the efforts of the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (California) to implement the reforms mandated in California's SB 813, especially in the area of discipline policy, and to keep the public informed of those efforts. The program description provides an overview…

This study evaluates the process of desegregation in Buffalo City Public Schools and adds to educational change literature in two ways. First, it analyzes the initiation and implementation phases of school desegregation by describing how the innovation was shaped by participants to fit the system using it. Second, the technique of event analysis…

One approach by the state of Georgia to ensure equal educational opportunity for all children has been to organize a method whereby several school systems within an identified geographical region may share services they cannot afford to provide individually. By legislative action in 1972, provisions for Cooperative Educational Service Agency…

SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE URGED TO PURSUE DESEGREGATION AND COMPENSATORY EDUCATION PROGRAMS SIMULTANEOUSLY RATHER THAN FOLLOWING ONLY ONE OF THESE TWO ACTIVITIES. COMPENSATORY EDUCATION, WHATEVER ITS IMMEDIATE VALUES, IS SEEN AS ONLY A PARTIAL MEASURE. EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY COMBINED WITH FEDERAL FUNDS ARE GIVEN. FUNDAMENTAL PROPOSITIONS…

Based on the results of a study on the process of change in urban education, this scholarly paper discusses the design of the study and sets forth common characteristics or "essential conditions" of innovative school districts. These are: a citzenry that encourages and supports change, an assertive school that translates the community's mandate…

This document attempts to deal with certain legal issues which the author feels are basic to understanding the function of government in the professional licensing or certification of educators. It is the basic argument of this paper that the right and responsibility of the state to certify teachers is a legitimate, moral, and rational use of the…

This study is one of a series initiated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. The series includes 21 case studies of innovative educational institutions in seven different countries for the purpose of exploring the ways in which these institutions execute the planning, implementation, and evaluation of…

Critiques Chester Finn's analysis (EA 518 431, this issue) of teachers unions, outlining the ambiguities in Finn's theories. (MD)

The evolution, changing role, and recent criticisms of Britain's University Grants Committee, the government agency charged with channelling funds to higher education institutions, are reviewed and discussed. The appropriateness of the concept and structure in a time of great educational change are specifically addressed. (MSE)

The current structure of governance and decision making in Swedish higher education and the effects of recent national reform on perceived and actual autonomy at the central, regional, and local levels are discussed. An initial desire for more decentralized decision making has turned to increasing demand for more guidance by central organizations.…

This book contains sixteen compelling case studies that illustrate the power of future search to create lasting, whole system change. Future Search in School District Change: Connection, Community, and Results chronicles ways in which educational institutions have used broad-based stakeholder involvement to improve education. These experiences, by…

This book attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the major leadership issues facing urban schools. It also provides practical recommendations for improvement to address the challenges of urban school reform. The chapters are: (1) "Circular Hopelessness, Poverty, and Urban Schools"; (2) "Academic Achievement and Parental Involvement in…

This document consists of a series of questions generally asked about charter schools. Charter-school personnel provided a major portion of the information. The questions are as follows: "What are charter schools?""What do Illinois charter schools look like?""What flexibility do charter schools have?""How are…